


You're Not Being Paid to Goof Off

by GettheSalt



Series: Take Your Fandom to Work [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Retail, Gen, M/M, Take Your Fandom to Work Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:38:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6940120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/GettheSalt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the only things that make dealing with the ins and outs of retail, are the people you work with. Coworkers become friends, and friends can become... Well, best not to say that out loud. Just in case HR's listening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Not Being Paid to Goof Off

“Lance, man, I need to get in there. I've got to get the bay cleaned up.” Mack said, exasperated, trying to dodge around the Home Solutions salesguy currently blocking his way. It wasn't exactly a shocking occurrence. The store was strangely quiet, but it was late October. People were bidding their time, waiting for Black Friday before they would descend on the building like the ghouls of hell to really and truly begin their holiday shopping. That, and unlike the Best Buys in the colder areas of the country, where they were, there was little worry about snow and the colder weather. People could tough out the brisk mornings, and didn't need car starters installed to get their morning commutes started right.

“You can't.” Lance said, in a tone that made Mack stop trying to get around him. Instead, he looked down at the other man critically, trying to work out what was going on here.

Technically, sales associates weren't supposed to go into the install bay. It, like the warehouse, was home to a lot of dangerous things, and while there was a bit more entry space, they still weren't supposed to go in without Mack's consent. The issue was, Mack _had_ even Lance his consent. Lance had said that he wanted to look in Mack's toolbox, to see if he had the tool he needed to take apart one of the TV stands. Mack, of course, thinking that it was an innocent and responsible request, had told him sure, to go ahead.

Now, with Lance looking shifty in front of him, Mack wasn't so sure that had been a good idea.

“Why.” Mack's words were less of a question than a statement, but Lance picked up on the request for an answer either way.

“There... There, uh.” Lance gathered himself together, putting his hands out in front of him like a shield. “Now, see, the thing is, it was an accident--”

“--Goddamn it, man!” Mack shouldered past Lance, ignoring the way the slighter man made a grab for his arm, and turned the handle on the install bay door, swinging it open.

The sight that greeted him wasn't as bad as he'd expected, but it wasn't what he'd hoped to find when all Lance had supposedly been looking for was a screwdriver. Both the roll-up bay doors were open, and the bay itself was empty, which was a damn good thing, because James was sweeping what looked to be the smouldering remains of...

“Is that...?”

“The TV stand.” Lance said, his tone quiet and guilty. “Technically, it was a displayer... And Izzy said it had been marked 'destroy in field'...”

“So you lit it on fire.”

“...Yeah.”

“In my install bay.”

“...We opened the doors?”

Mack rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. “That's probably the only reason the sprinklers didn't go off in the whole store, and destroy everything.” He looked over at Lance, noting the way he blanched. “You didn't think about that?”

“Not... Not exactly.”

“Clearly!” James cut in, his accent seeming more thick in his mix of excitement and annoyance. “Drongo almost lit himself on _fire_.”

There was a long pause in which Lance looked at Mack, and Mack looked at Lance. The silence seemed like it might stretch on forever, but Lance was the one who broke it.

“You're gonna get me written up for this, aren't you?”

Mack rolled his eyes, and gestured at the mess James was still cleaning. “What do you think?”

 

~*~

 

“Second place.”

“You're only behind by six activations. That's one good Saturday.”

“Second.” Grant repeated, ignoring Izzy's words. “Place.”

“He's too far gone.” Victoria commented, not looking away from her computer screen, while she printed out the papers she'd need to run the morning meeting. “He's not hearing you.”

“I'm getting that.” Izzy said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “Grant, really. It's Friday, you and I both know that you're going to overtake that store and get first place back.”

It was obviously to everyone else in the room – the sales supervisor, Melinda, and Operations senior, Trip, as well as Victoria – that Grant wasn't listening to reason. It was true that, this late in the month, slipping to second place could make first place a lot harder to take back. Their rival store had enjoyed a very, very good day for sales the day before, and, as a result, their mobile department had risen above Grant's in the ranking.

“I know that, but if we aren't getting people into the store who want to upgrade their phones, or who can be coaxed into doing it, we aren't going to hit our budget, and we're going to slip from third place, to fourth, to fifth. It's going to be a nightmare.”

“That's a really positive attitude.” Trip joked, nudging Grant. He was probably the only one who could get away with it. Trip was, essentially, everyone in the store's best friend. Grant was stone faced for a second, before he cracked a little bit of a smile. “There y'go, man!” Trip laughed, gripping both of his shoulders and shaking him lightly. “Come on, you know you can kick their ass.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Grant laughed, looking over at Trip. “I mean, their mobile manager is a useless troll, isn't he? Luck of the draw for one day.”

Melinda sighed. “Your jealousy is really ugly, you know that?”

“It's not jealousy, it's facts.” Grant pointed out. “I mean, he's been eating my dust for five months. Can't be that hard to get higher than second place. This is the only month we've not totally smashed our budget in the first two weeks.” He smirked at Trip. “Gave 'im a shot to catch up.”

Trip laughed, and herded Grant from the SDR. “You sure did. He's gonna be crying into his second place banner when you guys crush them again this month with only three days left.”

Izzy waited until they were out of earshot, and turned to the other two women in the office. “If it wasn't for their bromance, you _know_ we would have been dealing with a very pouty, very sulky Grant Ward, all day long.”

Victoria didn't even look up from her computer. “We would have. But he's a mobile manager. It's in their blood.”

 

~*~

 

It was really, really unfair that their store was one of the few that still housed a car audio install bay. For the most part, it was a department that the company had seen fit to get rid of. Fact of the matter was, when it came to car audio and the like, they weren't the winners in the market. It was easier to scrap the whole thing, and save money, than to pay to make sure every store had one. Of course, in the bigger urban centers, they still held on to them, and considering their store was in one of the biggest urban centers, it wasn't surprising that they still had one.

Joey was happy about it, if he was honest. It was helpful for a lot of them to have Mack around. He was a big teddy bear who had a lot of heart. He treated everyone really well, and a lot of the staff had taken to calling him their 'big brother'. Joey thought that was a term coined by Bobbi, but he wasn't sure.

Not only was Mack a good guy, but he was really helpful, when it came to things that had to do with people's cars. He was always willing to give advice and, sometimes, he was even willing, in his downtime, to have a look at employees' cars, and see if he could help with minor issues.

Like now.

Joey hadn't really been bothered by the fact that one of his interior lights didn't turn on. A dead bulb was a relatively minor thing, and he could, really, change it himself.

Even though the covers were hard to get at, and delicate, and the tabs that held them in place could break if someone wasn't careful.

He'd said almost those exact words to Mack, and it had taken Mack less than a minute to offer to help him in changing it. He just needed Joey to buy the bulb.

So, Joey had, and now, both of them were hanging out in the install bay while Mack very carefully worked the plastic out of its holding. Glancing over, Joey could see Daisy peeking through the window into the bay, spying on them.

Daisy, of course, like more people than Joey wanted, knew about his crush on the installer. And Daisy had been the one to finally push him to make a move. Joey had been hesitant. They weren't supposed to date within the store – not that it stopped anyone, or that management seemed to care – and what if Mack rejected him? It would make working with the guy kind of awkward.

Still, you never knew until you tried. That was the philosophy that Joey was trying to live by.

“So, uh... Any plans?”

Mack glanced out of the car, before looking back at his work. “Gonna need to be more specific, rookie.”

Joey sighed. “I'm not even the rookie, anymore. That's James.”

He could see the way Mack was smiling while he worked the plastic cover free, and set it down on the dashboard. “You're always gonna be my rookie, Joey.”

In spite of himself, Joey felt his face get a little hot. “Gee, thanks.”

“You were asking about my plans?”

“Oh, uh.” Joey floundered for a second. “For... tonight? You know. Or this weekend?”

Mack set the old bulb on the dashboard, and set to work unpacking the new one. “Nothing really. Something you wanted me for?”

Joey swallowed, and glanced at the door. Daisy was still there, and though she couldn't possibly know what they were saying, she was making exaggerated kissing faces.

“Well, if you wanted,” he started, not looking away from Daisy. “Could... go kissing?”

The effect of his words on both of them was immediate. Joey immediately turned back to Mack, quickly saying, “what I meant – see, I meant – the thing – I meant to say --” while Mack knocked the light cover off the dashboard on his way to leaning out of the car to stare at Joey.

“Rookie.” He finally said, holding up a hand. “You and I both know you said kissing.”

Joey stopped trying to explain away his slip, quietly vowing to cut off all friendship with Daisy after this. She'd distracted him so much, he'd lost track of what he was saying, and made a complete ass of himself.

“And you and I both know that dating within the store is strictly against the rules.”

Joey nodded, feeling the hot wash of shame and embarrassment pour over him like someone was dumping water over his head.

“Which is why we'd need to keep it really quiet.”

Joey looked up, staring at Mack, taking in his big grin. He looked... well, he looked genuinely happy, which Joey hadn't been prepared for, but would absolutely take. “You... really?”

“Oh, yeah.” Mack said, his grin only seeming to get wider. “I was wondering when you'd make a move.”

“You knew?” Joey asked, incredulous. “You know I liked....?”

“Joey.” Mack said, shaking his head. “Half the store knows.”

Joey didn't miss the look Mack shot towards the window, and Daisy. Joey might not be cutting off friendship with her after all, but they were going to have a lengthy discussion about her tendency to gossip.

 

~*~

 

“They finally took the plunge.”

Daisy, leaning against the side of the customer service desk, grinned and nodded, following Jemma's gaze to the parking lot. Joey and Mack were supposed to be a little more discreet about their brand new relationship, but the fact of the matter was that everyone already knew. That included management, but management had only been happy to hear that they'd stopped dancing around in. In Phil's words, it would probably make Joey an even _better_ salesperson, now that he wasn't worrying about his crush on Mack.

That being said, Joey showing up to meet Mack after work, and the two of them sharing a kiss in the parking lot, even if it was pretty far back across the plaza, away from the store, wasn't Daisy's definition of 'discreet'.

“I'm happy for them.” She said. “Mack had such a little crush on him for so long, but you know Mack. He's able to separate that, and keep it pretty well hidden. Joey, on the other hand...”

“Everyone knew Joey had a big, big crush on Mack.” Jemma filled in for her.

“Oh yeah.” Daisy agreed with a nod. “Day after they went out for the first time? Joey comes and tracks me down and goes on about how he doesn't like that I was gossiping about his crush.”

Jemma laughed. “Did he _really_?”

“Oh, yeah.” Daisy said with a sage nod. “Like he hasn't realized that--”

“--This entire store is gossip central.”

Daisy made a gun out of her finger and thumb and winked at Jemma. “Exactly. Like, he thought that he was being really secretive, meanwhile, everyone knew about it, and everyone was talking about it.”

Jemma nodded, crossing her arms, leaning against the inside part of the customer service desk. She scanned the store, taking note of how empty it was – it was Halloween night, after all – before her mouth twisted in a smirk. “You know, I could think of a couple other associates who think they are being _very_ secretive.”

Daisy didn't even need to look at where Jemma was, to know who she was talking about. Mostly because Daisy herself had already noticed that their Precinct Chief, instead of having gone home like he was supposed to have, an hour ago when he clocked out, was sitting in Mobile. Sitting in Mobile, leaning forward on the desk, while Grant sat on the other side. Technically, Grant was supposed to be the mid-shift manager, but the store was so dead that he could afford to sit in his department and chat away with Leo.

As much as the two of them bickered, they spent much more time together, chatting and laughing and, most notably, batting their eyelashes at each other.

Maybe Daisy was exaggerating that last part, but she was pretty sure she'd witnessed it at least once.

“They think because they're part of the leadership team, their flirting is cloaked from view.” Daisy explained, in a voice meant to convey that she was very worldly and educated on the matter.

“When, really, it's very... Very obvious.” Jemma said, her eyebrows furrowing, a smile spreading across her face. Looking over, Daisy saw Grant laugh at something Leo had said.

“Ohhh, they are _so_ obvious.” she said. “Poor suckers.”

“I could never tell them.” Jemma agreed, watching as a customer came into the store, heading towards the returns desk, and them. “I guess they'll have to figure it out on their own.”

“I guess so. I'll let you get back to work, though.” Daisy said, stepping away from the desk. Jemma gave her a nod, and then turned to the customer, her voice bright when she spoke.

“Good evening. How can I help you?”

 

~*~

 

Salespeople were trusted with a lot.

Making smart deals.

Making sure they didn't leave expensive product out to be stolen.

Making sure their departments were tagged probably so there weren't any pricing problems.

Making sure that customer information was protected.

Making sure that the keys that the managers gave them were taken care of, and well guarded, so that no potential thief could get their hands on them.

There were a lot of things placed in their hands that showed that the management team had trust in them, which was why it was such a shameful thing when they fell short on that.

There was nothing quite as bad as losing a manager's keys, though. Between the confusion, and the determination to remember where they'd been left, there was also the fear of telling the managers that the keys had been lost, as well as, unsurprisingly, panic.

“Do you have the keys?” Joey hissed to Elena, as she finished packing up a customer's laptop.

“Ah...” Elena frowned, thinking about it. “Did I give them to you? No, you brought them back...”

She looked at Joey, the panic that he was feeling clearly sparking in her eyes. “...Uh oh.”

Joey nodded frantically. “Uh oh is right.” He said. “If we don't find them, we're going to have to go tell Maria we lost the department keys. And...”

“That's not going to go well.” Elena filled in. “Okay. Okay, I think I left them...” She closed her eyes, thinking. “No! Lance asked to borrow them, he must still--”

“--Looking for something?”

Both of them stopped, looking over towards the voice to find their department senior, Lincoln, standing there, holding up the keys. They couldn't help both sighing in relief, even while sharing a look of shame.

“I found them on one of the tills in Home Solutions.” Lincoln explained, walking over and passing them to Elena. “I wouldn't lend them out to Lance anymore. There's a reason Phil and Melinda don't.”

Elena nodded, waiting until Lincoln had headed away, towards the SDR, before she said to Joey. “Aren't these signed out under your name?”

Joey took a second before nodding. “Yeah.”

Elena pushed them into his hands, walking away at her usual quick pace. “Then they are _your_ problem.”

 


End file.
